Letter

Held by

Montreal Holocaust Museum via Canadian Jewish Heritage Network (incl. Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives)

Dates

June 10, 1946 (indexed as 1946)

Level

item

Extent

Letter : Paper : Handwritten : Ink : Beige, Purple ; Ht: 10 3/4 in. x W: 8 3/4 in.

Scope & content

1 page, double-sided. Letter to Tobias and Chana Berkowicz from J. Leumartin ? in Bernac-Dessus, France. The sender sends good wishes, mentions having received family photos and seeing that the children had grown since they left Bernac. The letter discusses continued rationing of bread, meat and wine, but adds that things always get worked out in the country. The weather and village life (mutual friends, births and marriages) are also discussed. Narrative: Tuwja (Tuwyas, Tuwia, Tuvia, Tobias) Bercowicz (Berkowicz) was the father of the donor, Jack (Jacques) Berkowicz. Born in Vilna, Tuwyas immigrated to Belgium in 1933 and when Belgium fell to Nazi Germany in 1940, he fled to France, hoping to reach Morocco by boat from Marseilles. The donor's mother, Chana (Chane, Annie) (Trompeter) Berkowicz, born in Mielec, Poland, was living in Vienna, Austria with her parents and two sisters. In 1938, after the German annexation of Austria, the family fled, driving to France via Belgium. Tuwyas and Chana met in Lyon, France in 1941 and married. Their daughter Dorothée was born in 1942. The family attempted to flee France by boat in Marseilles, but were stopped by Vichy police. They fled Marseilles and went south, into the Pyrenees region, living in various small vilages. Their son Jack was born in Bernac-Dessus in 1944. The family survived the war and returned to Brussels from 1945-1948, and then immigrated to Canada with the help of the American Joint Distribution Committee. They were sponsored by Tuwyas' sister Luba, who was already living in Halifax. The Berkowicz family settled in Montreal.

Location

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Genre / form

textual record

In the picture

DocumentFamilyHandwrittenLetterSignatureTagged automatically by a vision model; may contain mistakes.

Text in the image

doit venir les chercher à la fin de l'année scolaireIl paraît que les Vandamme projettent de venir passerles vacances dans la région, je crois que Mr Vandammetravaille également à Paris. Le boucher a cinq garçonset deux filles. il y a quelques mariages d'annoncés, entreJe ne vois plus grand chose à vous annoncer, maisj'espère que vous nous écrirez de temps en tempsnous serons toujours heureuses de recevoir vos lettres.Tous les voisins vous en disent le bonjour et nousvous adressons à tous quatre notre meilleur souvenir.Read automatically; may contain mistakes.

Language

French

Harvested

2026-10-19T03:21:16Z · source datestamp n/a · andornot

Digital objects at the source

• imageOpen original at source ↗2005_1_7.jpg
• imageOpen original at source ↗2005_1_7b.jpg